[Illustration:  MAP OF A PENINSULA.]

In the picture we see a narrow strip of land which extends far out into the water.  You will notice that the land has water all round; except at one place.

What is the name for land that has water on all sides but one?  What is a peninsula?

How would you change this peninsula to an island?  What is the difference between a peninsula and an island?

The narrow neck which joins the peninsula to other land—­just as the neck joins the head to the body-is called an isthmus, which means neck.

[Illustration:  PICTURE OF A BAY.]

Here is another picture which I wish you to look at.  You see where the shore bends like a bow; and the water runs a little way into the land.

Can you think of anything else that is bent like this?  Yes-a bay-window.

Now, when I tell yon that bay means the same as bow, you can almost guess the name for this bend in the land.  It is called a bay.  You will easily remember that little word.

[Illustration:  MAP OF A BAY.]

A wide opening or bend in the land, into which the water flows, is usually called a bay.

Sometimes, when the opening in the bend is long and narrow, it is called a gulf.

On the next page is shown a narrow strip of water joining two larger bodies of water.  The name given to this narrow passage is strait, a word meaning narrow.

As an isthmus connects two bodies of land, so a strait connects two bodies of water.

[Illustration:  PICTURE OF A STRAIT.]

After a rain make little lakes, rivers, bays, etc.  Perhaps you may find some already made.

See whether you can find in the magazines and books at home pictures of gulfs, bays, peninsulas, etc.

Write the following: A peninsula is land almost surrounded by water.

An isthmus is a neck of land joining two larger bodies of land.

A gulf or bay is a portion of some large body of water extending into the land.

A strait is a narrow passage of water that joins two larger bodies of water.

[Illustration:  MAP OF A STRAIT.]

LESSON XXVII.

A TRIP TO THE HIGHLANDS.

Uncle Tom had been telling Fred and me about many strange places he had seen.  Last of all, he told us about some high mountains he had climbed.  We wanted to climb one very much.  So father said he would go with us up a high hill not far from the city.

Mother did not need to call us in the morning, for we woke up very early.  The sky in the east was bright, and we knew that soon we should see the sun.  We wanted to start at once, but mother said it would be better to have breakfast first.

We put on thick shoes that the stones would not easily cut.  Father gave each of us a stout stick to help us climb.  Fred had a knapsack, in which mother put some bread, cold meat, crackers, and a cup to drink from.  In one corner we put some towels.